Happy World Tai Chi and Qigong Day!

Happy World Tai Chi and Qigong Day!

World Tai Chi and Qigong Day was first launched in 1999 in Kansas City, Missouri, where the Kansas City Tai Chi Club held a public demonstration and class with over 300 attendees. With coverage from CNN Headline News, the event quickly gained national, and then international attention. The event has been proclaimed or recognized by the Governors of 25 U.S. states, the Senates of California, New York, and Puerto Rico, the United Nations World Health Organization, and by countries as diverse as Brazil and Croatia.

World Tai Chi and Qigong Day is held every April 30th in hundreds of cities in over 80 countries around the world, and has led to programs being developed to present Tai Chi from places as varied as schools (from preschools to high schools to universities), prisons (such as the infamous Folsom Prison, where Tai Chi was found to drastically reduce recidivism rates in prisoners) to large corporations. WTCQD was created with the following purposes as the guiding intents:

1. To educate the world about the profound health & healing benefits of Tai Chi & Qigong for individuals, communities, and nations.
2. To thank Chinese culture for creating and sharing these profoundly valuable gifts with the world.
3. To bring people together across racial, economic, religious, and geo-political boundaries; to join together for the purpose of health and healing, providing an example to the world.
4. To give a powerful example of how the power of the Internet can be used to foster global health & healing.

"One World, One Breath" is the motto of the organizers of the event, and it's a powerful one! What a beautiful concept - using Tai Chi and Qigong to not only heal ourselves, but to bring people together and create healing around the world.

So: what are you doing to celebrate World Tai Chi and Qigong Day?